Class 11 Botany simulations · Biological Classification

Bacteriophage: the lytic cycle

A bacteriophage (a virus that infects bacteria) attaches, injects its DNA, multiplies and bursts the cell.

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What to notice

Viruses are inert outside a host cell; inside, they take over the host’s machinery to make copies of themselves.

Key relation

Phages after n cycles ≈ (burst size)ⁿ

Try this

Raise the burst size and watch how quickly phage numbers grow over cycles.

What you can change

• Burst size (phages per cell): 50 to 200
• Infection cycles: 1 to 4

More in Biological Classification

• Bacterial shapes and binary fission
• Whittaker’s five kingdoms

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